ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The South Atlantic Conference has announced the Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field preseason coaches polls and Athletes to Watch list for the 2024 season.
The Tusculum University men were selected third in the conference poll, while the women were chosen seventh in the poll of the league's 13 head coaches. The Pioneers finished in those positions at the SAC Indoor Track & Field Championship last month.
The Pioneers are coming off their outdoor opener last weekend at the John-Hunter Classic in Columbia, South Carolina and will compete four more times prior to the SAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship May 1-2 in Hickory, North Carolina.
MEN'S PREVIEW
Selected as Athletes to Watch for the Pioneers are senior sprinter Marquel Pittman and sophomore thrower Adrian Gumm.
Pittman was All-Region during the indoor season in the 4x400 meters, and was All-Region last outdoor season in the 4x100 meters. The Tallahassee, Florida native was 70th in Division II in the 60 meters in the winter with a best time of 6.85 seconds set at the SAC Championship. His career-best time in the 100 meters is 10.43 seconds and his best 200 time is 21.47 seconds, both set last season.
Gumm is off to a fast start this spring as he set school records in both the shot put (15.14 meters) and the discus (42.19 meters) at the John-Hunter Classic. The Maryville, Tennessee native is also the school record holder in the hammer throw at 42.25 meters, which he set at last year's SAC Championship. Gumm took second in the shot put at the SAC Indoor Championship last month, and was third in the event at last year's SAC Outdoor Championship.
Defending SAC team champion Wingate had 11 first-place votes and took first place in the poll with 143 points, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne with two first-place votes and 134 points. Tusculum was third with 112 points, with Carson-Newman (107 points) and Anderson (106 points) rounding out the top five. Positions six through 10 went to Catawba (86 points), Newberry (83), Limestone (73), Lincoln Memorial (54) and Mars Hill (45), with Emory & Henry (34), Coker (22) and UVA Wise (15) rounding out the rankings.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
The Tusculum women's Athletes to Watch for the 2024 outdoor season are sophomore hurdler Theresa Green-White and freshman thrower/runner Caley Sosnowski.
Green-White scored in three events for the Pioneers during her freshman outdoor season, placing fifth in the 100 hurdles and sixth in the 400 hurdles while running on the runner-up 4x100 relay. During the past indoor season, the Stafford, Texas native was the Top Region Performer in the 60 hurdles with a SAC-winning time of 8.64 seconds. She broke her own school record in the 100 hurdles at the John-Hunter Classic with a time of 14.00 seconds.
Sosnowski was one of the top high school javelin throwers in the state of Florida, and backed up her credentials with a first-place finish at the John-Hunter Classic with a mark of 38.86 meters (127 feet, 6 inches). The Oxford, Florida native also ran the 800 meters and took over fourth place on the program performance list in the event with a time of 2:24.90.
Wingate is first in the SAC poll with 10 first-place votes and 142 points, with Lenoir-Rhyne in second with three first-place votes and 135 points. Carson-Newman (120 points), Catawba (113) and Anderson (99) are in spots three through five, with the next five positions going to Limestone (84 points), Tusculum (78), Lincoln Memorial (64), Newberry (62) and Mars Hill (47). The final three slots are Emory & Henry (32 points), UVA Wise (21) and Coker (17).
